Choices, Dear Perseus
by SammyTheTranny
Summary: And There Consequences One-Shot


**AN: Sorry for not updating my other story, Prince of Princes, but here is something I thought of while making the latest chapter. I hope this tides you little biscuits for a little while more. Thanks, and have fun reading! Leave a review on some more one-shots I should do.**

 **Choices, Dear Perseus**

 **And All Their Consequences**

Hazy.

Everything was hazy, out of focus. I looked up and blinked, trying to clear my vision. Slowly, I could see my surroundings. I was in a chair, rope tied around my wrists and ankles. My hair was sticky with blood.

My blood.

The room i was in was dark and dusty, with nothing but wall to wall concrete. This was bad, very bad.

"Help!" I tried calling, my voice crackling. I recoiled in pain, trying to rub my throat with my hand only to be stopped by rope. "HELP!" I shouted again, this time louder. It felt like sandpaper running down my esophagus, but i shouted again and again. After a while, I realised no one could hear me. 'Or no one cared.'

I decided not to listen to myself, and focus on escaping. The bonds on my wrist were digging into my flesh, and anytime I moved they rubbed viciously against my skin. I tried pulling against them, using all my strength, but they didn't budge. I sighed, exasperated, and looked at my surroundings once more. Now that I looked closer, I noticed one section of wall was a slightly different color than the rest of the grey concrete. I shifted in my chair, causing it to move slightly.

'Interesting.' I thought. I shook my body from side-to-side, making the chair scoot forward slightly with each shift. Soon enough, I found myself at the different colored section of wall. Up close, it was easy to see that the section of wall was a door.

"But then, where is the knob?" I asked myself. Taking a chance, I rocked back in my chair. When I had a good distance, I surged forward and smashed into the door. With luck from the gods, it opened with a resounding 'click'.

"What the hell?" A man, dressed in what looked like a guard's outfit, entered the room with confusing written all over his face. Until, his eyes landed on me, breathing heavily and looking absolutely pissed off. "Oh shit." Without another word, he went down as I launched into his abdomen. With the weight of the chair combined with my body, the guard fell hard and hit his head on the ground with a sickening crack.

I was on my side, laying next to the guards unconscious body, and had the stupidest grin on my face. With a little bit of observation skills, I saw the keys on his belt. With nimble fingers that stretched far past their intended point, I grabbed the keys with a victorious laugh. Using one of the many bronze keys, I cut through my bindings and stood, rubbing my wrists.

"Now what?" I asked myself, once again. I thought of my options. I was in some sort of facility, judging by the amount of keys there were many more rooms meaning it was a large building. 'I could sneak through the building and outside, bring the police here. But how would I…' my eyes zeroed in on the unconscious guard, and a smile crept up my lips.

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With my new outfit, coming with not only a set of keys but a flashlight, pair of handcuffs, hand-held walkie talkie, and a fully loaded pistol, sneaking was barely necessary.

Even though I matched the rest of the guards, I took caution and avoided most if not all of the other guards. I checked my name tag, not taking any chances if someone addressed me. 'Zhang, Frank. Why does that sound so familiar?' I ignored it for now, and headed in the direction of several signs. Once there, I studied each carefully. 'Medical Wing, Main Guard Posts, Dormitories, Cells, Offices… Jesus, do these guys have their own theme park too?' I searched the list, reading it twice to make sure I got the right directions.

I started walking toward the guard posts, a plan forming in my mind. First, I'm going to need more than a single clip of ammo and, hopefully, some form of armor from bullets and other such things. After about another fifteen minutes and three turns, I reached the guard posts.

To the left, three doors labeled 'Lockers & Changing Rooms'. On the right, two doors led to two different locations: the first labeled 'Armory' and the second 'Conference Room'. I checked the armory first, and found exactly what I was looking for.

The room was small, and contained three sets of weapon racks and a shelf with ammo bags. Grabbing a bag, I filled it with about fifteen clips and some flashbang grenades. I also found a Kevlar bullet-proof vest, and slipped that on over my guard uniform. I looked over the other weapons, taking a shotgun and strapping it over my shoulder while putting several shells in the duffle. I left the armory, and went directly into the conference room.

Only to be met with two guards, each facing the opposite way with bored expressions. "Underwood? Did ya get that coffee yet?" one asked, not turning around. I froze, not saying a word as I slowly drew out my pistol. I aimed at the one on the left, picking up a nearby couch cushion for suppression. Just as the one who talked turned around, I squeezed the trigger and fired three shots into his chest. The gunshots made a short 'piff' noise due to the cushion, but the damage was the same.

Three flowers of crimson blossomed on the guards white shirt, and the look on his face showed that it couldn't be anything but blood. "Jesus Christ!" the other guard yelled, seeing his comrade fall to the ground. We locked eyes, his terrified blue and my emotionless green. Before he could draw his own pistol, I shot two more rounds into his leg. "Shit!" he shouted in pain, falling to the ground. I pounced, taking the weapon from his belt and adding it to my bag.

"Where am I?" I asked, turning back to the scared man. "Look man, I don't know who you are or what you want, but I will give you whatever you want. Just don't kill me!" I rolled my eyes, grabbing his collar and bringing him closer. "Where. Am. I?" He shuddered and stammered out an answer. "I-In the O-Olympus Resource L-Laboratory Facility." I frowned deeply, before aiming my gun at his head.

"Wait! No, I helped y-" he was cut off by the bullet piercing his skull, effectively silencing the poor guard. Blood dripped onto the perfectly white tiles, and a coppery scent filled the room. I had to leave, and fast, before anymore guards showed up. Before I left, I grabbed a map of the facility. As I sprinted down the hallway, I studied the map and carefully created the rest of my plan. 'In the far north of the building, there are the Main Gates. To get past there, I need a keycard that only are kept in the offices in the south wing. To get there, I need to cut through the cells and probably several guards.' My mind was full of information by the time I reached the first guard.

He looked almost identical to the last guard I had to get rid of, except maybe a little taller. "Hey, what's happening? Is there a lockdown?" I ignored his question, running up and snapping his neck in one fluid motion. His limp body fell to the ground with a dull 'thump'. I dragged it into a supply closet, using the set of keys I had to open the door and lock it closed again.

As I moved further down the hall, I tried to remember the armory. Including the shotgun on my back, there were fifteen total weapons in the armory: five shotguns, seven pistols, two M16 machine guns, and a sniper rifle. I had taken the only Kevlar vest, which meant someone else had more. In total, there had to be around thirty, thirty-five guards in the entire facility. Including the guards already dead, that meant that somewhere around twenty-eight guards were still wandering these halls.

That was not good, but I could tell that I was prepared to do what I need to get out of this hell.

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The change from cells to offices was noticeable by every meaning of the word.

Instead of the normal white tile floor, the office wing had brown carpeted floors. The doors were no longer concret, but wooden and embroidered with names of different people who work at the Olympus Research Laboratory Facility. At the very end of the hallway I found the biggest of all the offices, owned by a Mrs. Castellan. I opened the unlocked door, walking into the well-kept room.

An oakwood desk and red leather chair greeted me, piles of papers covered the desk in an unnaturally unorganized manner, considering the borderline OCD level cleanliness. I moved to the desk, checking each drawer for a keycard.

Nothing. I growled in frustration, pulling an entire drawer out and throwing it on the ground. "Fucking bupkis." A gasp sounded from the doorway, and without a word I swiveled around and pulled my pistol out. The noise originated from a blonde woman with stormy grey eyes and tan skin.

"Just who the _hell_ are you?" She asked, more angry than scared despite the situation. I glanced at a picture on the desk, seeing the same blonde woman with an equally blonde man with blue eyes and a scar. "I'm guessing you are Mrs. Castellan?" It seemed that this was the first time she noticed the gun, as her eyes widened and her mouth opened up to scream.

"Don't." I said, cocking the pistol. She narrowed her eyes, closing her mouth. "You wouldn't. I know your type. You come in, act all big and powerful, threaten innocent people for government secrets, when really all you are is a coward. You don't have the-" the ringing gunshot cut her off, as a new addition to the room was made in the space right next to her head.

Mrs. Castellan looked shocked, horrified, and downright scared. "No no, go on." I said sarcastically, aiming my gun at her midsection. She shuddered and slowly raised her hands into the air.

For some reason, I felt hesitant to kill her. That was weird, given that I felt next to nothing for all the other lives I had taken. Something in the back of my mind was shouting at me not to kill her, but protect her with my life. "Now, see here mister." She started, but I didn't let her finish. In a blur of color, I knocked her unconscious. I looked at her sleeping form, almost lost in her beauty.

I shook my head. 'Not the time.' I inspected her closely, before smiling. I leaned down and plucked the plastic card from her belt. "Nice." I said, before walking out the door.

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The halls were far more packed than last time I was here, and that was only about twenty minutes ago.

I looked around the corner once more, taking note of the guard that had no clothes on at all, except for a pair of underwear and socks. 'It seems our own Frank Zhang has awoken from his slumber.' I thought, reloading my pistol. I took the single bullet left in the last clip out and slipped it into my pocket for later use. Another look.

'One, two three… seven total.' I counted. This was not good. Sure, taking on two would be easy, three a challenge, and four a problem, but those were different. Seven guards, each one had a pistol except for Zhang and two of them had bullet proof vests on. "Great." I muttered to myself, retrieving the second pistol from the duffle bag.

As I did so, my hand touched a cold cylinder. I looked down and saw the flashbang grenade I had stored away for emergency use. Seven well-armed guards sounded like an emergency to me. I cocked both pistols, took one deep breath, before tossing the cylinder and covering my eyes and ears.

A loud 'BANG' signaled it had gone off, and was my cue to go. I rounded the corner, raised my guns, and fired like no tomorrow. Two guards feel, each taking at least three shots to the chest. When the other guards finally came to their senses, I had killed another with a shot to the back of the skull. Three drew their guns, while Zhang scrambled for the pistol on one of the corpses.

I moved to the side quickly as shots were fired at me, and took some shots of my own. One of mine hit a guard in the stomach, sending him to the ground. A bullet his my chest, the Kevlar protecting me from the damage but not the pain. I fired five shots into the head of one, leaving two. I threw the empty pistol at Zhang, knocking him over, and jumped up, delivering a two-feet kick to the other guard.

Both of us on the ground, I hit him in between the eyes with the barrel of my remaining pistol. He groaned before aiming his gun at me, but to no avail as I already shot him in the left temple. I stood shakily, only to be knocked on the ground from the force of a shot to my back.

Zhang held a pistol, looking scared but determined to take me down. I stood, pain racking my body, and picked up my own gun. We aimed at each other, no one of us giving up or saying a word. We locked eyes, not moving a muscle, both of us waiting for the other to move. In that moment, I realized I didn't know if I would win this. As if sensing my distress, the guard tightened his grip, preparing to shoot.

I took a single deep breath, and we both fired a single shot.

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I limped forward, clutching my leg in pain. "Bastard." I spat at no one, cursing the dead body in the wing opposite of him.

I had made it to the gate, but ran into a problem. They keycard unlocked the main gate, but not the outer perimeter gate. And outside of this building, every guard in the facility patrolled the grounds. Apparently, word of my escape had only reached the guards inside the building.

I leaned against a wall, watching the remaining obstacle warily. About fifteen men, each armed and one with a shotgun and Kevlar. I grunted as I wrapped my leg in a makeshift bandage created from a strip of shirt. I stood, testing my leg. It would hurt like a bitch, but I could walk.

Now that that problem was solved, a plan needed to be made. I thought over everything I had learned and gathered from today's experiences. The guards were well-trained, and could aim true. Getting the drop on them was the best bet, but how was the problem. Even if I did surprise them, killing three was nothing compared to the rest of the twelve. That left two options: beg for mercy, or fight anyway. Of course, running away was not my way of doing things.

This led to me, right now, standing directly above a group of five guards in a small shed. With some maneuvering and sneaking, I had scaled the small building, unseen, and arrived at a small hatch that led into the room five of the guards occupied. I stared down at them, wondering what they were doing in here, and what exactly was this shed. But of course, that begged the question: what is the Olympus Research Laboratory Facility? What do they do? Why was I brought here?

These questions brought no new light to my original question, so that meant improvisation was key. Pulling out my shotgun, I aimed it down at the group of five. I fired twice, killing them all almost instantly, and moved inside. I had little to no time, the gunshots must have bought the other guards' attention.

I looked around the shed, trying to find clues to what this was exactly, when I saw something that made me smile wider than a canyon. As the guards arrived, I heard them bang on the door.

"Valdez? Rodriguez? What's going on in there?" More banging on the door. Turns out only one person was close enough to hear, so I covered up my surprise and pulled my pistol out of the duffle.

Taking careful aim, I fired the entire clip into the door until there was silence. I replaced the clip, taking notice of the dwindling amount of clips I had left. Next, I loaded my shotgun, grabbed my duffle, and picked up my surprise, carrying it outside of the shed to use on the rest of the guards.

As soon as they saw me, they drew their weapons and shouted for more guards. Soon, the rest of the guards in the whole facility, about eleven or so, were out and pointing their weapons at me.

That's when I pulled the trigger on the mounted-machine gun, now unmounted, and fired a storm of bullets at rapid speeds. Already, six went down in a flurry of blood and bullets, while the rest scattered in different directions to find some form of cover. I swiveled the gun and aimed at a group of three hiding behind a small box crate.

I tore it, and them, to shreds.

Next I turned on the remaining two hiding behind a concrete pillar. I shot nonetheless, and bought me enough time to do what I do best: form a plan that involves a metric ton of luck. As soon as I ran out of ammo for the machine gun, I sprinted at the pillar while keeping it in hand.

The first guard looked around, and got a machine gun thrown at his face. He fell on his ass, the other guard turning with his pistol already aimed. A bullet zipped past my face, barely missing my ear.

I pulled my own pistol out, running into the guard. "Oof!" He exclaimed, before I stuck my gun in his stomach and fired twice. He fell down, dead, and that's when the other guard made his presence known.

"GAH!" I screamed as a bullet ripped through my shoulder. I turned and fired wildly, emptying my clip in the final guards chest, stomach, and upper leg. Needless to say, he went down hard. I fell against the pillar, pressing my hand against the hole in my shoulder and trying to stop the copious amounts of blood from pouring out. When I felt the blood lessen, I pulled back and wrapped another piece of shirt around my shoulder, stopping the blood for now.

"I swear to gods, I need to see a doctor after this." I muttered. 'Gods? Since when was I a polytheistic?' I chose to ignore it, instead opting to test my arm movement with the new injury. It hurt like all hell, but it would have to do. I stood silently, pulling my shotgun around and leaving the duffle on the ground. I had no need for anything else but the seven bullets inside the gun and the luck from above that had been granted to me.

As I found the perimeter gate, my gut tingled for some reason. The gate looked like the last, and opened easily as I swiped the keycard. I walked through, almost sauntered, but was stopped by the sight before me. A single building, just as small as the shed from before, sat in the middle of murky greyness surrounding the area. This fog-like color stretched on in every direction, clouding my vision and making me angry.

I headed for the building, keeping my head and shotgun high. As I entered the building, the words 'Master Control Room' were painted on a sign above the entryway. I walked inside, prepared for the worst this place had to offer. What I got was a brunette woman in a black pencil skirt and white blouse.

Her glasses caused a glare to appear over her eyes, so I couldn't see her eye color or where she was looking. Without a word, she turned around and walked into a room with a table, sitting down in a chair. I followed after a moment's hesitation, and sat opposite of her at the table. She looked up, and I could clearly see her stormy grey eyes, so much like Mrs. Castellan.

"Well well well, we've had an eventful night, haven't we?" I didn't answer, choosing cold indifference to cover up my confusion. She just smiled, pulling up a clipboard. She analyzed it for a minute or two, before nodding thoughtfully. "It says here you had almost no restraint upon killing any person, except dear Mrs. Castellan. Do you know why?" I didn't say a word, but my mind became fuzzy and cloudy.

My mouth felt like I was chewing on cotton balls. Slowly, memory came back to me. "She… She is my wife."

"WAS your wife. Annabeth hasn't been your wife for, oh, about four years. Ever since you went crazy and killed all those campers."

I stared at her, campers? What campers? The thought was foreign yet so familiar it hurt my brain. "Killed..?" She smiled a little wider, as if my confused and disheveled mind was pleasing to her.

"Slaughtered. Why do you think you are here?" I looked around, my vision finally truly seeing. I was on a mountain, in a city. No, not just a city.

"Olympus." I stated. "Yes. You are here, being analyzed to see how well you are to fit back in society. So far, the results aren't great." I turned to her, my mind now recognizing everything. "Athena? What… analyzing what?"

"Choices, dear Perseus. And you made plenty." She showed the clipboard, but it was fuzzy and the words swam. My dyslexia was coming back, as was the memories of everything I had done in that facility.

"Oh my gods." Athena smiled wickedly. "Yes, it seems you haven't changed a bit. Killing all your friends, hitting my daughter, all without a second thought. I am truly sorry, but we must start the process over again and try for a better result." I stared down at the shotgun still in my hands.

I looked at Athena, who met my eyes. As soon as I moved to raise it, she waved her hand and it disappeared. "That's not going to work. Are you really that dumb? I'm a goddess!" She shook her head and turned to some control panel, fidgeting with the knobs and switches. "How about this time, we keep you trapped in the room for more than thirty minutes, hm? How does three days sound? Or a week?" I groaned in pain as memories resurfaced.

This process, it wasn't my first time through. I looked at the clipboard and focused as much as possible. The words cleared, 'Try 2,761', and I realized something. "I'm never leaving here, am I?" Athena stopped, looking up with a smirk. "Now now, we always believe people can change. You just need a very _very_ long time to get better." As she went back to pushing buttons and flipping switches, I slowly drew my pistol from my belt.

I checked the clip silently, and cursed myself at seeing it devoid of ammunition. Until, I remembered something important. Something that seemed like an unconscious decision. I pulled the bullet out of my pocket, looking at it with wide eyes. 'I had beat the system. I found a way.' I smiled, and loaded the bullet into the clip.

At the soft 'click' of the pistol cocking, Athena turned her attention to me. Only to widen her eyes in shock. I held the pistol in my hand, aimed at my right temple. "It looks like I have made a choice, Athena."

Before she could even say a word, I squeezed the trigger and accepted the blissful silence.

Fin


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